For many people, a PC might just be a tool to get things done, but for many others, it's one of their most prized possessions. Naturally, then, esthetics play an important role when choosing PC components. There's nothing wrong with wanting good-looking components in your PC, but looks should never be the primary driver in your purchase decision. Once you've ticked off performance, features, and reliability on your list, it's perfectly fine to use esthetics as the final filter.

5 Case

Airflow and features reign supreme

Although the case is the first thing you notice on your PC, the design isn't the most important element here. The case plays a huge role in determining your PC's airflow, what kind of components you can fit inside it, and even your upgrade path. Choose a case that's too compact, and you risk locking yourself out of a future GPU or cooler upgrade.

Even the features related to cable management, build orientation, modular components, and movable panels can influence your decision more than how it looks. Sure, a white design or unhinged shape might feel cool to look at, but once the novelty wears off, the stuff that really stays with you is how well the case handles your hardware's airflow requirements, how easy it is to move around, and how easy it is to work in when you're diagnosing issues.

4 CPU cooler

Prioritize performance and reliability

When crafting the overall look of your PC, the CPU cooler is considered prime real estate. The popularity of AIO liquid coolers owes less to performance gains, and more to esthetics. Sure, a fancy liquid cooler with soft RGB lighting and customizable pump design can instantly pimp up your PC, but you don't really need all that performance for your 65W or 120W processor.

A budget air cooler can easily handle almost all mainstream CPUs. Barring the most power-hungry chips on the market, CPUs don't really need liquid cooling these days. Every generation of processors is making inroads into power efficiency, and air coolers have gotten insanely good over the years. They can even compete with many 240mm and 360mm AIOs in performance.

Choosing a CPU cooler should be done based on its cooling performance, convenience of use, and long-term reliability. Many PC builders have switched to air coolers permanently, precisely due to these factors.

3 Gaming monitor

Panel quality is the only thing that lasts

A gaming monitor can be a pricey investment, especially if you're buying a 4K or OLED model. If you're dumping $500–$1000 on a high-end gaming monitor, you'd probably want a model that looks as good as it performs. However, if it comes to choosing between the two, I'd always suggest picking a slightly inferior design if it trumps the other in panel performance.

The reason is that once you start using the monitor, things that don't matter are how it looks from behind or how good the stand looks on your desk, next to your peripherals. The only thing that matters is how fast and smooth the panel is in gaming, how well it handles HDR, and how modern its connectivity features are. Stands can be replaced with monitor arms, and RGB lighting is a gimmick that gets old really soon.

Rely on monitor reviews before finalizing the model, check for long-term first-hand accounts from fellow users, and check out the monitor in a store, if possible.

2 Motherboard

Compatibility, upgrades, and durability are more important

After a long history of building multiple PCs, I've decided that esthetics is one of the motherboard features I'm never paying extra for again. It doesn't matter how premium the VRMs look, or if the board has an all-white PCB, or if it's covered with metal panels all over. The things that should matter to a PC builder are whether the motherboard is fully equipped for the CPU, RAM, and SSD, and how well it fits into their upgrade path.

This means confirming whether the board can run your high-end RAM at its rated speed, supply clean and consistent power for your CPU, and is compatible with your Gen5 SSD. The number of motherboard headers, features like BIOS flashback and quick-release slots, and the number of M.2 slots are far more important than a fancy design that you won't even see behind the cooler, graphics card, and RAM.

1 Graphics card

Just look at the price and thermals

If you've been buying graphics cards for a few generations, you'd know that almost all AIB models perform roughly the same in games. The differences are not in real-world performance, but rather in the cooling performance, features like dual vBIOS, and esthetics. That last factor is what many people spend extra on, despite it not making any financial sense. A better-looking card is more valuable, yes, but certainly not hundreds of dollars more.

Reference or Founder's Edition cards offer excellent performance, thermals, and designs for the lowest price. Stock availability might remain a challenge for these models, but that doesn't justify the premium associated with some AIB models. Before choosing a GPU variant, you can check reviews and roundups comparing the thermal and noise performance of all available models. If a particular variant performs significantly better than others without costing over 10% more, then it's worth it; otherwise, it's not.

Stop chasing eye candy over performance

Anyone who says "looks don't matter" is lying, but that doesn't mean looks should take precedence over everything else. Most people who build a PC want to maximize performance per dollar, and that doesn't happen if you prioritize esthetics over performance, longevity, and features. If a better-looking design is available for around the same money, then buying it can be justified. Paying a huge premium for it and settling in the other departments is foolish.